I'm a writer based in New York, head Global Markets and Ideas (tatianaserafin.com) and cover billionaires and businesses in Eastern Europe, Central Asia and Russia. I am a former Staff Writer at Forbes and have profiled billionaires in Kazakhstan, the UK and the US for the magazine. I am also a former Vice President at management consultancy, Kaiser Associates, where I worked with multinational corporations to expand business in Russia and Poland. I have an MA in Business and Economic Reporting from New York University, as well as an MA in Central European and Russian Studies and BS in Foreign Service from Georgetown University.

World's Wealthiest Transform Philanthropy

The global economic crisis has proven to be a call to action for the world’s wealthiest. A historic gathering of the world’s philanthropists in June led by Forbes and Credit Suisse found that most were dedicated to giving back despite changes in fortunes. In a Credit Suisse snap poll at the event, 46% of attendees said that the slow global recovery had not affected their philanthropic giving. In subsequent interviews with leading philanthropists around the world, Forbes found the commitment to give back to communities near and far continued to grow, especially in the face of government cutbacks.

“Without private giving, the arts and theater would close down. What happens then? How can a new generation grow up without these?,” Jorge Perez, Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and Founder of Related Group of Florida stated.

As part of the Forbes Insights/Credit Suisse survey of 264 people with investible assets over $1 million entitled, , Forbes Insights interviewed Czech billionaire, Petr Kellner and his wife Renata. The Q&A follows:

Also of note is how philanthropic giving has changed around the world – and how leaders in philanthropy are driving change. Specifically in emerging markets, a culture of individual giving is developing where traditional governments or wealthy family foundations were previously relied upon for this type of work. For example, in the Asia Pacific region, 45.5% of survey respondents cite a growing culture of giving and in Latin America, philanthropy is evolving as a social norm and expectation, according to 50% of survey respondents.

Similarly in Eastern Europe, philanthropic giving is a new concept being built after generations of communist rule falsely promised egalitarianism, and a middle class is just beginning to evolve. Czech billionaire, Petr Kellner, is at the forefront of creating a philanthropic framework (see here for the full Q&A with Kellner and his wife, Renata, who both head the Kellner Family Foundation). For example, he and his wife started investing in education and have created meaningful change.

“Through The Kellner Family Foundation, we focus primarily on education, including various science projects. We both wanted to support children from disadvantaged backgrounds and were looking for a way to help them achieve long-lasting success in their life. Therefore, we chose education and the Open Gate grammar school project followed. We appreciate that Open Gate students need to apply themselves to achieve their goals, for which the accurately targeted support of our foundation helps them,” explained Renáta Kellnerová.

Meanwhile in Latin America, where community development (according to 30% of survey respondents) and social enterprise (according to another 30% of respondents) are key issues, individual philanthropists are having their say. In Brazil, Carol Civita, who was inspired by the legacy of her husband’s family foundation, the Victor Civita Foundation, has emerged as one of the leading advocates to change the structure of philanthropy in Brazil. Over the past five years, there has been a shift from traditional corporate giving and foundations connected to the nation’s wealthiest families to more of a focus on individual giving. “When the economy started booming, social issues became more evident and people became motivated to act,” says Civita. She is trying to make sure the government continues to support these initiatives with the proper tax incentives and that organizations network to share best practice.

In Asia, philanthropists like billionaire and founder of Berjaya Group, Vincent Tan, are ready to take the next step. On his 60th birthday, Tan said he would give $200 million to his Better Malaysia Foundation. “I started life in a poor family and could not even afford a proper tertiary education. I know what it is like not to have a lot of things that the average person these days will take for granted. I therefore consider myself very blessed to be where I am today despite the difficult early days, and ever since I achieved financial success I have felt a sense of responsibility to help those who are less fortunate, “Tan told Forbes Insights. You can read more of his interview here.

With this evolution, perhaps we will see more billion dollar donations like Switzerland’s Stephan Schmidheiny who says, “I continue to give because it has been a profoundly rewarding experience, because I keep learning about the needs and potential of the people and the dynamics of development, and because I have been fortunate enough to make more money than I and my children need.” (see more of his interview here)

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